Riley Finn
Riley Finn (born in Huxley, Iowa), a covert operative for the United States government was an agent of the Initiative and a short-time member of the Scooby Gang. Biography Early Life Native to Huxley, Iowa, Riley grew up in a rural setting with fairly strong and self-reliant females around him"A New Man", describing it as a Grant Wood painting. Every Thanksgiving, him and his family would stay at his grandparent's house for thanksgiving dinner before they would take a walk down a river with their dogs."Pangs" College In 1999, Riley attended UC Sunnydale in Californa and at some point joined The Initiative, a secret government military organization located in Sunnydale aimed on researching the demons that inhabited it because of its Hellmouth. By the start of his freshman year Riley was already one of the Initiative's high-ranking soldiers and thus led a double life, both a secret agent and a college guy residing at the Lowell House along with his two friends and fellow initiative agents Forrest Gates and Graham Miller, along with several other operatives that resided in the Lowell House and used it to enter the Initiative via a secret passage. He was also the assistant teacher to psychology Professor Maggie Walsh who was one of the leading scientists at the Initiative. He developed a strong mother-son connection with Professor Walsh who also secretly fed him drugs that enhanced his physical attributes. During his first day at college, he met fellow freshman Buffy Summers after she accidentally dropped textbooks for Introduction to Psychology on his head. "The Freshman"The two then on continued to share an unspoken attraction to each other. He realized his feelings for her after he punched Parker Abrams for making inappropriate comments about Buffy (as Parker previously had a one-night stand with her)"The Harsh Light of Day. While Riley did his best to keep Buffy from finding out his secret life, Buffy also wrestled to keep here secret life as the Slayer. They both came by each other during their duties when the vampire Spike, named "Hostile 17" by the Initiative, escaped and attempted to kill Buffy's friend Willow Rosenberg, but couldn't because of a Behavior-Modification circuit. On the simultaneous rescue Buffy and Riley got into a fight in Stevenson Hall but could not notice each other because Riley was wearing a military face mask, hiding his face while Buffy purposely covered the room in a blinding smoke by firing a flare gun."The Initiative The truth eventually came out when a group of demons called The Gentlemen stole everyone's voices, leading Buffy and Riley to catch each other on the job. They quickly worked together to defeat them, killing several of the Gentlemen's footmen. Riley saved Buffy with his taser blaster and Buffy used sign language tell him of the box containing the voices."Hush"Despite the fact Buffy hoped Riley would be her "Joe guy", she still found comfort in the fact he was a regular human and that his ability to fight demons allowed her to worry less about his safety. Buffy and Riley started their relationship and both fought demons together and continued saving each other's lives and the world, although Riley was never quite let into Buffy's inner circle while Riley suggested Buffy to the Initiative where her strength, speed and stamina impressed him and Maggie Walsh, though her tendency to ask questions and inability to follow protocol led to the other soldiers finding her irritating while Professor Walsh came to loathe her as she thought Buffy was taking Riley away from the Initiative. After Buffy and Riley hunted down a Polgara demon, the two passionately made love for the first time, also being the first time for Buffy to wake up after sleeping with someone and that person still being right by her side. However, Professor Walsh watched them while they were in the act via a surveillance camera, so she attempted to get Buffy killed with a faux mission and a faulty taser gun."The I in Team After failing, Riley was devastated from Walsh's betrayal and left her mid-conversation despite her orders for him to stay. After hearing Walsh's following death at the hands of the cybernetically-augmented human-demon hybrid named Adam, Riley was greatly effected and started take it on Buffy, though this was largely due to the drugs given to him from the Initiative which started effecting his health. As he started to get violent and irrational, aiming a gun at an innocent civilian in a demon bar, Buffy convinced Riley to get some rest at Xander Harris' basement while she snuck into the Initiative compound with Xander in disguises to find out what project 314 was about. Riley instead followed after her, hurting Willow in the process and along with Buffy, Xander and Dr. Angleman he met Adam who recently made a stir by killing and mutilating a small child, which led Buffy to believe it was the act of a Polgara demon. Riley attacked Adam but was easily beaten along with Buffy and Xander while Dr. Angeleman was killed. After Adam escaped, Riley was treated at the Initiative hospital. Riley however, kept taking the drugs yet through his own choice."Goodbye Iowa While everything at that time was sound with Buffy and Riley, problems occurred when Riley slept with Buffy's enemy and fellow Slayer Faith Lehane who switched bodies with Buffy and seduced him. During sex, Faith felt Riley's love for Buffy opposed to the common desire for sex she felt with other men. Because this feeling being alien to her, she left him behind the next morning in bed."Who Are You" After a vampire attack at Riley's church where Buffy got Faith to switch back, Buffy found it difficult to get over what happened with Faith though she eventually managed with the help of Jonathan Levinson in his alternate world."Superstar Originally, Riley was heavily prejudiced against all demons, showing no approval for Willow Rosenberg's relationship with a werewolf Oz, but he soon realized that demons are capable of both good and evil just as humans are after helping to save Oz from the Initiative base, particularly after witnessing his superiors' inhumane treatment of Oz while in his human form. Initially completely loyal to the Initiative, several events, such as Maggie Walsh's failed attempt to get Buffy killed and the discovery that she was the one who created Adam as a super-soldier, caused Riley to desire to leave the organization, but it was only when he helped to save Oz that he realized the e xtent of the Initiative's corruption and turned his back on them in favor of the Scooby Gang."New Moon Rising After that he then relocated in the burnt-down ruins of Buffy's old high school, Sunnydale High. After founding out Buffy visited her ex-boyfriend and ensouled vampire Angel in Los Angeles and witnessing Angel beat a couple of Initiative agents in Sunnydale, Riley assumed Buffy has slept with Angel and that he lost his soul again. The two fought with Angel easily taking out Riley with his bare hands while Riley used every tool on him. Later in Buffy's dorm, Riley barged in with his gun while Buffy and Angel were talking. The men then argued before Buffy broke them up and explained to Riley that Forrest had been killed. Riley then suddenly left."The Yoko Factor It was discovered that Maggie Walsh implanted a Behavior Modifier in Riley after he joined The Initiative. Adam exploited this and used the chip in order to pacify Riley before the final battle. Riley, will no other choice, removed the modifier by lacerating himself with a shard of glass and pulling it out of his body. He then fought his best friend Forrest, who had been brought back as a demon-human-cybernetic bybrid like Adam, turned completely evil. Though Riley's efforts where uneven to Forrest's new abilites, Riley managed to kill him by making him hoisted gas canister exploded after catching a live wire."Primeval" The Initiative was destroyed in the summer of 2000, and Riley was relieved of his military standing. He was left at loose ends, and his behavior became reckless. Recklessness A year after he met Buffy, Riley became a full time member with the Scooby Gang, though his suggested methods and tactics were foreign to them. Riley began to see himself as beneath Buffy in strength, so he began to push his body well past its limits in the hopes that he would catch up to her. He began increasing worried with Buffy's relationships with vampires, becoming jealous at Dracula's allure to Buffy , prompting him to set out in his castle and hunt him alongside Buffy's Watcher Rupert Giles, as well as noticing Spike's attraction to Buffy while coming to him for information about Dracula."Buffy vs. Dracula" After learning that the drugs Maggie Walsh had given him were causing his pain receptors to shut down and his heartbeat to spike, Riley initially refused medical treatment from the government out of paranoia, but Buffy eventually managed to convince him. After a brief face-off with Spike and Harmony Kendall, who were attempting to force an Initiative doctor to remove Spike's chip, they successfully managed to get Riley heart surgery, though this reduced him to a normal human being, only adding to his feelings of insecurity and weakness. "Out of My Mind"His relationship with Buffy also began to deteriorate when Buffy continuously failed to give him the emotional intimacy, trust, and honesty he craved. This was mostly due to her mother's illness and her growing interest in spiritually discovering her potential as a Slayer, having a long conversation to Spike about the two Slayers he killed while Riley went out patrolling with Buffy's friends and recklessly destroyed an entire crypt with a grenade to kill two vampires after killing one that staked Buffy."Fool for Love Seeking thrills, and wondering what Buffy found so appealing about vampires -having allowed both Angel and Dracula to drink her blood- Riley began to let vampires feed from him, becoming a regular at a "Bite Den", an establishment were vampires are paid to bite and feed on the blood of willing customers without draining them completely. Buffy eventually discovered this with Spike's help and destroyed the building where Riley's secreting meetings had taken place."Into the Woods" His behavior, as well as Spike's manipulations and a sense that Buffy would never truly love him, led to their breakup. Despite Buffy's best efforts to stop him, Riley rejoined the military and departed."Into the Woods" Marriage In South America, Riley met Samantha, a fellow soldier who with him initially forged a duo demon-hunters, discussing tactics and missions before discussing about Buffy. They then got married shortly after. Nearly four months since the wedding, Riley returned unexpectedly in the next year, tracking a demon about to hatch eggs that could wipe out Sunnydale."As You Were" However, he did not return to make up with Buffy but to ask for her assistance with Sam arriving shortly. Nonetheless, when he discovered that Buffy had been engaging in a sexual relationship with Spike, he was clearly affected, though when he discovered them in bed together and when Buffy attempted to explain the situation, he hid his emotions. He was, however, mentioned later when Buffy asked for The Initiative to remove the malfunctioning chip in Spike's brain. Riley personally sent a group of soldiers to help, but told them that what they were to do with the chip (either repair or remove it) was Buffy's decision."The Killer in Me Triple Agent Over a year later, Riley joined Twilight's followers to spy for Buffy, while convincing the Twilight organization that he was their "inside man" in Buffy's inner circle, and was marked with Twilight's symbol on his chest. He later met with Buffy in New York City.Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #19: Time of Your Life, Part IV, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley Weeks later, he joined Amy Madison, Warren Mears, and Twilight as they tried to track down the Slayer Organization to Oz's monastery.Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #27: Retreat, Part II During a massive battle between Twilight's forces and the Slayer Organization, Buffy saved an injured Riley and reveals to her friends that Riley has indeed been working for her as a double agent in order to find out Twilight's plans and identity. After the war in Tibet, Riley comforted Buffy, who saw herself as a terrible leader by leading the Slayer Organization into the war against Twilight. Riley also got the United States government to grant amnesty to all members of the Slayer Organization. A few months after the Twilight crisis was averted, Riley was stationed in San Francisco where Buffy and the other Scoobies had settled down. Because magic was banished from this dimension, Riley used a surveillance van to watch out for human terrorists. Personality Riley was the sterotypical "nice boyfriend" type. He was often depicted as friendly and very easy to be around with. He also was charming and occassionally witty. Because of his easygoing nature, Riley got along well with Scooby Gang and gained their trust, a sharp contrast from Buffy's previous boyfriend Angel following his return from Hell. Riley was rarely mean to people and very polite in nature, pleasant to just about anyone, the only exceptions being Angel and Spike(Partly because they're vampires and partly because both of them carry a romantic interest in Buffy during his time as her boyfriend). Buffy herself as described him as very reliable and solid 'Something Blue', which was proven to be true on many occassions throughout seasons four and five of Buffy. Also, Riley saw himself as "smooth" though upon his first time trying to flirt with Buffy, it only confused her due to his awkward ramblings, much to his embarassment and frustration 'The Initiative'. Riley was also shown to be patient and supportive when Joyce's health was deteriorating, expressing understanding towards Buffy despite also feeling disappointed she never truly opened up or allowed herself to be vulnerable with him. Due to his affilation with The Initiative, Riley was shown to fit well in a leadership role, effectively leading the Scooby Gang upon Buffy's request during patrol and also with his squads in the miltary. Though because of his involvement with the miltary, Riley also carried a black-and-white outlook when it came to demons and humans. This was seen in his predjudice of Willow dating a werewolf at one point, much to Buffy's annoyance, 'New Moon Rising' who had previously been involved with a vampire. Riley seemed to slightly let go of his "all demons are bad" mentality a little during his relationship with her, but remained mostly fixed in that outlook as he openly showed distrust towards Spike, even threatening to kill him despite being harmless. 'Buffy vs. Dracula'Even Angel has described him as "very humans first" 'Riley'. Despite his outward displays of confidence and carefree nature, he was revealed to have underlying insecurities and lack of self-confidence regarding his relationship with Buffy. This was because he had worried that he wasn't strong enough for Buffy who seemed to be drawn to less-than-human men. Despite briefly casting his worries aside thanks to Buffy, 'Out of My Mind' it returned not long after. His character then took on a darker turn, as he became increasing more reckless, driven to the point of allowing female vampires to feed on him for a rush, as he felt more needed with them. 'Into the Woods' Riley also is seen to have a fierce jealous streak in him, as he had quickly came to blows with Angel in an alleyway while he was on his way to apologize to Buffy 'The Yoko Factor' and had violently confronted Spike on three seperate occassions. 'Shadow' 'Into the Woods' 'As You Were' Powers and abilities Due to his military training, Riley possessed immense knowledge of and expertise in strategy, hand-to-hand combat, vampire hunting, tracking, and weapons handling techniques. He also displayed medical knowledge, competently treating a severe puncture wound that Buffy suffered to the abdomen in "Fool for Love". Also, for a time, he possessed superhuman physical attributes due to the drugs he was secretly fed, though nowhere near the level of a Slayer, but lost these abilities after suffering symptoms of withdrawal from the drugs, including a heart attack."Out of My Mind" Relationships Behind the Scenes *He was portrayed by Marc Blucas. *Riley was introduced in the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a recurring character in 7 episodes of that season before being promoted to the regular cast in "Doomed", appearing in 20 out of its 22 episodes, being absent in "Living Conditions" and "The Harsh Light of Day" in his recurring span. He then continued as regular in season five for the first 10 episodes before his departure in "Into the Woods" where he was taken out of the regular billing. He then made on final appearance on the series in "As You Were" with Marc Blucas credited as a "Special Guest Star". He overall has appeared in 31 episodes. *Marc Blucas was asked how the character was described to him during the audition process, he replied that "They said that Riley is a nice, charming guy, and there's going to be some kind of dichotomy, some kind of double role going on. But that was never really specified."Stokes, Mike, "The Life of Riley", from Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine #14 (UK, November 2000), page 11. *Whedon defended the character of Riley Finn, "The important thing for us was to find a character that was the anti-Angel and to have Buffy go through something very different, part of which was the question, 'How do I get over Angel?' That was the same thing the audience was going through. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and it was very hard trying to find somebody. But Marc Blucas has a quality that I love very much: he has sort of an un-David-like, firm, strong, trustworthy quality. I always think of him as Gary Cooper."Bassom, David, "Meet the Master", from Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine #11 (UK, August 2000), page 7-8. During the fifth season, writer/co-executive producer, Marti Noxon, noted that they were making Riley a more tortured complex character, "He's starting to fray around the edges. That's very compelling to me - that this straight guy is starting to get a little strange.""High Five", from Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine #18 (UK, March 2001), page 6. *Actor Christian Kane also auditioned for Riley Finn. Kane went on to play the role of Lindsey McDonald on the spin-off show Angel. Kane says he played his audition for Riley "perhaps a little less than wholesome", which he feels resulted in Joss Whedon later casting him as a darker character.Return of the Spirit Boy: an Exclusive Spotlight on Christian Kane Gallery Image:RileySeason4.jpg buffy_riley_xander.jpg|Riley and Xander. riley2.jpg buffy_riley2.jpg buffy_riley_the_freshman2.jpg|At UC Sunnydale. Image:RileySeason6.jpg|Riley makes his last appearance in Sunnydale.|link=As You Were Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_26_p11.jpg|Riley, moments before get attacked in "The Heart of a Slayer" comic. Image:Riley.season8.JPG buffycomicsriley1272394567.jpg|Riley with his wife Sam 025.jpg|Riley makes his choice. 17.jpg|An injured Riley encourages Buffy, during the War in Tibet. sarah-s4-089.jpg|Riley & Buffy Appearances *"Fear, Itself" *"Beer Bad" *"Wild at Heart" *"The Initiative" *"Pangs" *"Something Blue" *"Hush" *"Doomed" *"A New Man" *"The I in Team" *"Goodbye Iowa" *"This Year's Girl" *"Who Are You" *"Superstar" *"Where the Wild Things Are" *"New Moon Rising" *"The Yoko Factor" *"Primeval" *"Restless" ;Buffy Season 5 *"Buffy vs. Dracula" *"Real Me" *"The Replacement" *"Out of My Mind" *"No Place Like Home" *"Family" *"Fool for Love" *"Shadow" *"Listening to Fear" *"Into the Woods " ;Buffy Season 6 *"As You Were" ;Buffy Season 8 * Time of Your Life * Retreat * Turbulence * Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley ;Buffy Season 9 * Freefall }} References Category:Riley Finn Category:Males Category:Buffy Summers Category:Scooby Gang Category:The Initiative Category:UC Sunnydale students Category:Humans Category:Military Category:Twilight Group Category:Demon hunters Category:Vampire hunters Category:Government agents Category:Slayer Organization allies